The Fractal Murders

December 1, 2002
In The Fractal Murders: A Pepper Keane Mystery, Mark Cohen's lively first novel, Boulder, Colo., math professor Jayne Smyers hires PI Pepper Keane to look into three apparently unrelated deaths-except all the victims, she has discovered, were researching those strange geometric forms, fractals. You don't have to be able to balance your check book to enjoy this clever puzzler, which has been selected as a fall Book Sense 76 Top 10 Mystery.

April 19, 2004
A surprising premise and an extraordinary theme equal an accomplished debut. That's simple math, but the geometric concepts that fuel Cohen's book are far more advanced. Former federal prosecutor Pepper Keane is hired by University of Colorado mathematics professor Jayne Smyers to look into the deaths of three colleagues who had nothing in common other than their field of expertise—fractal geometry. An FBI investigation prompted by Smyers found no link among the geographically separate, methodologically different deaths (two of them murders, one ruled a suicide). An appealing maverick, Keane lives in a small mountain town near Boulder with two animal rescue dogs, collects old-time rock 'n' roll and country music tunes and likes to read philosophy. In his dogged effort to connect the three deaths, Keane butts heads with an old FBI nemesis and finds an occasional ally, as well as an unexpected rival. While the killer's identity turns out to be disappointingly ordinary, Cohen's writing style is direct and amazingly lucid, even when handling the concepts and applications of fractal geometry or outlining the tenets of Martin Heidegger. Readers looking for something refreshingly different should be well satisfied. Agent, Sandra Bond. (May 13)

FYI:
An earlier version of this novel was published in 2002 by Muddy Gap.

March 15, 2004
This clever mystery pits a private eye against a murderer who is systematically slaying top American mathematicians. The link? The victims are all proponents of fractal geometry, the discipline that analyzes geometric shapes to identify patterns and predict behaviors in complex systems. Jayne Smyers, an assistant math professor, noticed the pattern of death among fractal specialists when she sought responses to a paper. Three of the mathematicians died in the preceding six months--two were murdered and one was an apparent suicide--prompting Smyers to consult Pepper Keane, a Colorado private eye. Keane, a former Marine and federal prosecutor, narrates this tale of finding his own patterns in the cutthroat world of "publish or perish" academics. Keane has a past that fleshes out his motivation, a wry wit, and an enemy who does everything to keep him permanently clueless. A consistently absorbing first novel. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)